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Semena Santa

Marie-Rose - 3-4-2006 at 08:44 AM

Can anyone tell me what date it is this year? :?:

[Edited on 2006-3-4 by Marie-Rose]

bajajudy - 3-4-2006 at 09:40 AM

I think that it is six weeks after fat tuesday....Feb 28 this year.
Looks to me like the 9th of April would be the start of Semana Santa.

Osprey - 3-4-2006 at 10:15 AM

Semana Santa will begin April 13, Thursday and end Sunday in the southland.

elizabeth - 3-4-2006 at 10:29 AM

Lent, or quaresma, is 40 days from fat tuesday...so Judy's date of April 9, is the correct date for the end of lent. The week between lent and Easter which is the 16th, is semana santa, but most celebrations don't start until Thursday...

Al G - 3-4-2006 at 11:21 AM

Could someone explain Semana Santa? Is this as our Easter Sunday?
Is there a fiesta? I'll be in Todo Santos and Los Barriles in that time period.

Bob H - 3-4-2006 at 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
Could someone explain Semana Santa? Is this as our Easter Sunday?
Is there a fiesta? I'll be in Todo Santos and Los Barriles in that time period.

Albert,
You will see literally 1000's of Mexican's with lots of stuff packed on top of their cars - all over the main highway. They will cover every available camping spot along the shorelines in all of Baja. This is when the majority of the locals take their vacations and their entire immediate and extended family will join together, camping, cooking, drinking, etc.
Bob H

elizabeth - 3-4-2006 at 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
Could someone explain Semana Santa? Is this as our Easter Sunday?
Is there a fiesta? I'll be in Todo Santos and Los Barriles in that time period.

Semana Santa is Holy Week...the week between the end of Lent and Easter Sunday. It is traditionally a time when families fill up the truck and head for the beach anywhere in Mexico or Central American...and for all I know, everywhere else in the world. There are also serious processions reinacting the stations of the cross, and hauling saints around.

Don't try to get anything done during Semana Santa...everyone is on holiday...no work happens and most government offices are closed, at least between Thursday and Sunday.

[Edited on 3-4-2006 by elizabeth]

JZ - 3-4-2006 at 12:27 PM

No joke over 30,000 Mexicans descend on San Carlos on the Mainland. This tiny town is normally home to roughly 3 to 5 thousand people.

bajajudy - 3-4-2006 at 01:48 PM

It is by far the biggest holiday in Mexico, bigger than Xmas. For me, it is a wonderful sight to see all the families getting together to celebrate and party. The beaches are crowded but ,hey lets face it....it is their beach. Around here they put porta-pottys in every arroyo and people generally clean up after themselves.
Al your biggest problem will be moving from LB to TS, if that move is planned that weekend. The roads are literally crammed full of people with what looks like all their belongings tied to their vehicles. You think that Pompano's "Gals sure can pack" pic is funny, wait til you see this procession.
Th joy on the faces of these families camped out for the weekend cant help but touch your heart.....kumbaya

bajarich - 3-4-2006 at 10:30 PM

They're no different than the thousands of Utahns headed to Lake Powell at Easter. Just havin a good time.

Bruce R Leech - 3-5-2006 at 07:59 AM

just get your self a spot on the beach and set back and enjoy the show.

Apr 17-23

eetdrt88 - 3-5-2006 at 10:18 AM

my semana santa is from APRIL 17-23 this year,well at least thats when the kids get out of school for spring break this year...i'm hoping for a few days down at our place at Playa Linda and a few days fishing at Pta Final...hopefully we'll run into some other nomads in the area at this time :yes:

Bruce R Leech - 3-5-2006 at 11:41 AM

we should have a contest for the most overloaded car or truck.

Bob H - 3-5-2006 at 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajajudy
The joy on the faces of these families camped out for the weekend cant help but touch your heart.....kumbaya

Bajajudy - very well said! :yes:

Bedman - 3-5-2006 at 04:51 PM

My wife, an adminstrator in the Garden Grove school dist., will be off April 8th through April 16th.

We'll be South that week

Bedman

[Edited on 3-5-2006 by Bedman]

You have the best answer yet

fdt - 3-5-2006 at 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by elizabeth

Quote:

Originally posted by Al G
Could someone explain Semana Santa? Is this as our Easter Sunday?
Is there a fiesta? I'll be in Todo Santos and Los Barriles in that time period.

But as for the stations of the cross that is on Viernes Santo (good Friday) only, and there is no hauling of saints arround whatsoever. Yes, most businesses and gov offices are closed thursday - sunday. "What many of us do" is not tradition, but has become to some of us as an oportunity to go to the beach or just have a fun holiday, but in fact if you get really down and cultural, down in the heart of M?xico's culture or anywere in the latinamerican cultures it is supposed to be a time of prayer, fasting, repentance, morning the death of Jesus and the joy starts on Easter Sunday or Domingo de Resureccion.
As for the vacation period, here once more is the link
http://www.educacionbc.edu.mx/calendario%202006/imagen.htm
Here is a close up of April
http://www.educacionbc.edu.mx/calendario%202006/#

From the Internet

John M - 3-6-2006 at 04:08 AM

Semana Santa is Mexico's second most important holiday season of the year, behind only Christmas, and runs from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. In addition to attending Mass on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, many Mexicans will also take advantage of the holiday to go on vacation. If you're planning to visit Mexico during Semana Santa, make sure you checked on availability in advance.

History

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, celebrates the Christian holiday of Easter. Mexico is nearly 90 percent Catholic, so this religious holiday takes on a special meaning that the entire community shares and participates in.

Where

All of Mexico celebrates Semana Santa, but certain cities and villages are better known for celebrating the holiday, and often provide reenactments of the events leading up to Christ's crucifixion on the cross. The best known cities are Ixtapalapa (in Mexico City), P?tzcuaro, San Cristobal de las Casas (Chiapas), and Taxco. Smaller and silent torch lit processions, Processi?n del Silencio, also take place in Aguascalientes and San Luis Potos?.

Events

Each community celebrates the holiday with it's own regional flavor, however, popular with the whole country is the breaking of cascarones, colored egg shells filled with confetti, over friends and family. Churches will be filled with those attending Mass on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and families will take this opportunity to be together.
The most moving event of Semana Santa is the reenactment of the Passion of Christ, or the Passion Play. The event's in the mentioned cities are sponsored by religious or community groups, and can include large processions of penitents, sometimes on their knees, a portrayal of the last supper and the crucifixion itself.

In many cities, important religious images from the church will be displayed, traditional altars are decorated at home and in the streets, and flower decorations and palm crosses will be found everywhere. The central colonial cities seem to celebrate this holiday with the most reverence and tradition, and if you wish to see the beauty of traditional Mexico, Semana Santa would be well worth seeing for yourself.

The attached photograph, below, came from the same web-site.

[Edited on 3-6-2006 by John M]

elizabeth - 3-6-2006 at 09:58 AM

fdt
I have seen processions with saints being carried from homes where they are dressed and cared for to churches on thursday...the stations of the cross on friday...and candlelit processions starting Wednesday...processions with giant papier mache figures representing Judas and other evils on Saturday when they are burned..and flowered carpets..and lots of cohetes. Granted, this was mostly in Central America and southern Mexico.

[Edited on 3-6-2006 by elizabeth]

Mike Humfreville - 3-6-2006 at 10:27 AM

I think one answer to the original question which I assumed was attempting to determine is "when would things be the bussiest?" The answer to that is also influenced by the cross traffic from the States to vacation spots as well. Quite often, using San Felipe as an example, it is extremely busy when the American kids are out of school as well as when the Mexican families celebrate, so you almost have to know the local issues as well as when the Semana Santa week falls..

The celebration is conducted in many Catholic countries. One year we were in Andora (between Spain and France). Of the 23 hotels in the entire small country, we got the very last room. Another year we were in Florence, Italy, and were obliged to put off a trip to Rome that fell during Holy Week. It's a somewhat universal celebration, as stated in John M's excerpt.

It's a wonderful period and a great time to see "deeper" into the histories of Mexico. It can also be VERY busy.

semana santa and spring break

sylens - 3-6-2006 at 12:45 PM

used to be the same week in los estados unidos, until governments, local and national, began changing dates of all kinds of holidays, to accomodate a variety of priorities. think lincoln's birthday and washington's birthday now being combined into one national holiday (to which have been added all the other presidents) :rolleyes:

spring break has been staggered all over spring for the last couple of decades, in part, to ease the strain of spring break destinations in florida and other target locations. the unpairing of spring break from holy week is also, in part, an acknowledgement that we have become a multicultural society where christianity is not the only or prominent religion in many regions. in any given locality, if there are many schools, the schools will likely have different dates for spring break.

but originally, spring break, then unabashedly called easter break, always occurred, as stated above, during holy week, the period between palm sunday and easter sunday.

hope that helps :saint: